Michelle Glenn

16 November 2000

The Function of Language in Two Minority Novels

African American literature is a genre that has, in recent years, grown almost exponentially. African American novels such as Tina McElroy Ansa’s Baby of the Family and Donald Goines’ Black Girl Lost are increasingly becoming more popular with the public. Baby of the Family is a wonderfully written "coming of age novel" ("Reviews 2") about a young girl named Lena McPherson as she grows up and must learn to deal with her extraordinary powers. Much unlike this, Black Girl Lost is a "shocking novel" (Goines 208) about a young girl named Sandra, who is forced to live on the streets. Though each of these novels is unique in their own aspect, a common bond can be established between the two through the use of language employed in the text. Because of the various functions that language can serve in literature, it is a rather "fascinating phenomenon" (Blackshire-Belay 1) to study in reference to these two novels. In both Baby of the Family and Black Girl Lost, language is used to reflect the speech patterns of the minority culture, as a portrayal of different worlds within the novels, and acts as a mirror to the life of the main character in order to navigate plot speed.

Language can be defined as "a regularized symbolic code that connects its users in a symbiosis of substance" (Blackshire-Belay 1). Not only are we produced by language, but we produce through language (Blackshire-Belay 1). In other words, language is a very integral part of our lives, especially in literature. It can even be said that literature, "in its most profound sense, is the most complex use of language to create meaning" (Blackshire-Belay 4). Therefore, its importance should not be looked upon lightly. In both Baby of the Family and Black Girl Lost, it seems that language is being used in order to convey the minority experience to readers, whether they be of the African American race or the dominant culture. To accomplish this, each novel displays Africanisms, or qualities that are very common in the African American language. These qualities include emphatic speech such as double negatives, call and response phrases and also metaphorical language. For example, in Black Girl Lost there is a passage plentiful in these type of Africanisms. In this passage, Chink says,

This passage is chalk full of language that is most common in the African American culture. Not only does Chink use a double negative in the words "don’t never, " (Goines 110) but he uses the call and response style with the phrases "you understand" and "you hear" (Goines 110). Not to mention, his brilliant use of figurative language with the "court day" (Goines 110) metaphor. Rather than simply having Chink say, "I’ll get revenge," Goines chooses to have Chink use a type of inflated and richer style of language. Furthermore, slang is present in the passage, which you will seldom,if ever, hear the dominant culture use. This can be seen by the use of the word "ain’t" (Goines 110). Passages such as this one from Black Girl Lost, create the atmosphere of the minority experience by showing readers a variation on standard English in a manner that allows the sheer splendor of the African American language to shine through.

In Baby of the Family, Ansa also uses language to portray the minority experience. However, the examples in her novel may not be as obvious to readers. One such example occurs when Lena meets Rachel on the beach. In this instance, Rachel tells Lena,

In this passage, the minority language is a little more subtle. Just as in Black Girl Lost, Rachel uses double negatives such as "don’t never" (Ansa 168) as she is telling Lena her story about slavery. It seems to me that Ansa is having Rachel speak in this way to emphasize her African American culture and experience. Another Africanism quality present in the passage is the constant usage of Lena’s name. Though this is not exactly call and response style, it is very similar. Call and response is carried out to make sure the two parties are on the same level. It is my opinion that, here, Rachel is keeps repeating Lena’s name not only to drive her point home but to be sure that Lena is listening and is comprehending everything she is saying.

A very similar situation using language also shows up in Baby of the

Family when Lena’s Grandmother is talking to her at the end of the novel. In this particular situation, the speech patterns are a little more similar to the passage mentioned earlier in Black Girl Lost. In this excerpt of the text, Lena’s Grandmother tells her, "I ain’t saying it’s gon’ be easy. But listen to me, Lena, no matter what you see or what you hear, I don’t want you afraid anymore. Now, that’s your grandma talking, you hear me?" (Ansa 264). Again, the slang word "ain’t" (Ansa 264) is present in the passage. More importantly, the call and response method is much more evident here, as it is obvious that Lena’s Grandmother is calling her out to make sure they are on the same page. However, whether it be in a clear passage like this one or a more ambiguous passage, upon analyzing, it is obvious that the authors of these two texts are using language to portray the African American language style to readers.

Interestingly enough, the language in both Baby of the Family and Black

Girl Lost is used to convey different worlds within the novels themselves. This is done so that readers can hear different voices within the text and the story will become more realistic to them. In Black Girl Lost, the police officers introduce the dominant culture into the text. In this passage, the officer says,

This passage is a very good imitation of the dominant culture language. Though quite lengthy, there is significance in the fact that the text is simply two sentences long. This illustrates the complexity of the dominant culture speech when it is contrasted with the minority speech. The passage is also important because it is very official sounding and absolutely colorless. Generally, African American language is more colorful than the dominant culture language, which is why this passage has a more serious overtone than picturesque one. Simply put, in this instance, the language has been elevated simply by making the sentence structure and wording more complex, and, because of this it is easy to see the contrast between the different worlds being introduced within the novel.

In the same manner, Baby of the Family uses language to present a contrast between different worlds within the novel. This can be seen with the introduction of the character of Mamie. Mamie was a young woman who worked in the beauty shop and when she spoke, "Lena had expected to hear the tinkling of piano keys" (Ansa 180). However, "what she heard from the back of the shop was enough to make her start: the sounds of a lowland geechee" (Ansa 180). To Lena, Mamie’s use of language was so very different than her own that "here and there the woman with the gleaming face pronounced a word so strangely to Lena’s ear that the girl giggled at the plain foreignness of the sound" (Ansa 180). The function of language is very important in this chapter because Lena’s opinion of Mamie very dependant on of her language. It is not so much anything else about Mamie, except her language, that is creating a barrier between herself and Lena. Overall, the introduction of Mamie into the story is important because it shows a contrast between the worlds of Mamie and Lena, solely by demonstrating how their use of language varies.

Another function of language in Baby of the Family and Black Girl Lost is that it is used as a guide for plot speed. It seems that the style of each novel relates thematically in that their literary styles resemble their cultural styles. Goine’s novel is an extremely fast read. The language is simple and to the point. The longest setting description in Black Girl Lost is probably the description of Sandra’s house. This particular paragraph is just over seven lines and uses very simplistic language. It reads,

It is easy to see that this passage gives detail through the use of very simple language. The sentences are very short and not intensely descriptive. It is important to note that this type of language reflects Sandra’s lifestyle in a mirror-like fashion. Her life is severely fast paced and she lives on the streets with only the bare necessities. Needless to say, her life is lived from day to day. Sandra wonders how she will go about getting her next meal, pushing herself along, much like the text of the novel. Using simple and to the point sentences, the plot is forced to move along very quickly. Having this kind of language pushes the plot along because there are no drawn out descriptions that would hinder readers, causing them to spend much more time on a particular passage. It is my opinion that Goines intended to use the language in this novel to make the readers eyes scan the page from place to place, just as Sandra and Chink’s eyes must be scanning the atmosphere for fear of attack. I find it very intriguing that simply through the use of language, Goines is able to reinforce Sandra’s situation.

In Baby of the Family, language functions in much the same manner. Ansa writes in a more complex style of language, which consequently, forces readers to spend more time reading the text. The language in this novel, just as in Black Girl Lost, resembles the main character’s situation. A setting description, as compared to a setting description in Black Girl Lost, would be more descriptive and complex in overall language. For example, in Chapter Eight of Baby of the Family Ansa describes Lena’s house by saying,

Obviously, the language here is much more sophisticated than the language in

Black Girl Lost, as it goes on for much longer. However, the language relates to Lena’s lifestyle greatly. It seems like the language of the novel is in place because Lena’s family has partially assimilated into the dominant culture and their language resembles this. It is very easy to see how the language used in this passage is similar to the speech of the dominant culture in Black Girl Lost, illustrated by the police officer. The style is much more lengthy and complex than the general minority culture speech. It is important to remember that Lena’s life is remarkably slower than Sandra’s and the language used in Baby of the Family mirrors her lifestyle. Lena has time to play around with Sarah and to contemplate her special powers. Since each of these novels has very different subject manner, it is very fascinating that they both use language to navigate the plot speed simply by reflecting that of the world of the main character.

It has been said that "there will never be one typical form of African fiction," and that in the end, "as with African life itself, there will be changing

patterns" (Larson 282). This may well be true. However, as with the novels Baby of the Family and Black Girl Lost, connections will be always able to be established to each African American work despite each work’s uniqueness. Because of the importance of language, it is my belief that language in African American literature will continue to be used in conjunction with important thematic ideas of texts. After all, language is "the most important element because it is the most easily manifest in the text" (Blackshire-Belay 15). Considering all of this, it seems to me that the world can only expect more powerful language connections in African American literature; such as the use of language to indicate the speech patterns of the minority culture, using language to depict different worlds within certain texts, and using language to reflect the world of the novel in order to navigate plot speed which can be seen in the novels Baby of the Family and Black Girl Lost.

Works Cited